The Secrets of our DNA: How Genetics has Changed the World

by Turi King

'Turi King combines fascinating history and science with brilliant storytelling' - Professor Alice Roberts

From the award-winning expert on DNA and genetic research, discover the myth-busting book that provides a window into the world of modern genetics and reveals the extraordinary true stories and mysteries solved using the power of DNA.

AS SEEN ON THE CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY HITLER’S BLUEPRINT OF A DICTATOR

DNA has become the key to unlocking crime and immigration cases, it is essential to our food safety, to the protection of threatened wildlife, and to resolving questions of history and archaeology, ancestry and even, for some, identity.

Now the UK’s preeminent authority on DNA and genetic research, Turi King takes us through fascinating true stories - from mistaken dinosaur DNA to the O. J. Simpson trial, from Dolly the sheep to Angelina Jolie’s BRCA1 gene – to reveal the fascinating ways in which DNA has solved mysteries and shaped our world today.

King shows us how we are all interconnected and why we must all benefit from this exciting and rapidly evolving science. She also reminds us that, while our DNA can yield information about genetic predisposition to disease and other conditions, it need not be our destiny. And, perhaps most importantly, she shows us why should all be a part of the discussion as to how new genetic discoveries are utilised for the benefit of all life on earth.

Fascinating, compassionate, and entirely captivating The Secrets of Our DNA is the must-read book about how genetics has changed the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Biology, Audiobook

475 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 28, 2026

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

V interesting. Some murder cases inc OJ Simpson where King shows high likelihood that he did kill his wife and her boyfriend (from DNA testing) but was acquitted because of tricksy lawyers. Turi King also used DNA to identify Richard III body in the Leicester carpark. The book covers forensic DNA, also family history of famous families eg Romanovs. The body count of the female murder victims and their male murderers becomes depressing but that is reality. Ultimately uplifting though in that more crimes can be solved, even ones where the perpetrators thought they had got away with it. A fascinating read.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The high points were the conversational tone and great explanations of the science. This area of science is very complex but Dr. King was able to make it all very clear. And by using cases, Dr. King also made the book very compelling and it was hard to put down. The images were very helpful and there was some well-appreciated humour. This is great science writing. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada (Adult) for the advance reader copy.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. I must admit that I skipped over much of the science bit. But the book is written so well that I could understand the case studies and the outcomes described. Many of the cases were familiar, which made the book more interesting. Turi King ends with a warning about the ethics of using DNA in this day and age of rapid scientific advances.

[Roland Glotzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the book is well researched and is a good introduction to the field of genetics and its applications from forensics to ancestry research, to disease prevention and treatment and to its misuse in the field of eugenics, backed up with numerous anecdotes, it was just not a book for me. I forced myself to read it to the end but never really got into it.

[Tony Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less technical than I had hoped but a fascinating study of the use of DNA.

[Mairead]

Fabulous